Responsible Adults
by arian
Summary: It's the next fic in my series after Unsettled Scores. Read in sequence, please.


Responsible Adults

Responsible Adults

By Arian

Author's note: Yeah, before you say anything else, it's another one. I said there would be, didn't I? You think I can stop writing them? I wish… No, tell a lie. I love writing these fics and the ideas are just endless. This one… is perhaps a little mean to Arian in places, but then, it's a little mean to Laguna in places too. Call it just desserts or something. It's just a funny idea and things like this do happen, I promise. Just hope they don't happen to you… Heh. Yes, people say these things, so if it's inane in places, don't blame me, blame humanity. Sorry. I'm in a bizarre mood right now.

Continuation of series started with Half-forgotten Interlude. Don't make me list reading order again. See Unsettled Scores for that. And speaking of Unsettled Scores, this fic happens to be the next one after that. Okay? Good. 

Laguna leaned back against the wall, watching as Arian pottered around, rearranging objects to her satisfaction. It was one of her foibles. She didn't like anything to get moved. Everything had its place and that was where it stayed. And she always knew immediately if something had been changed. It was a curious habit for someone who was not a tidy or fastidious person in any other respect, but Laguna figured he'd probably never understand all of her little idiosyncrasies. 

The woman stopped her activity when Laguna had finished talking and fixed him with a pointed stare. "Today? This evening?"

He nodded amiably, not seeing what the problem was.

"Laguna, why did you bother telling me now? Why not just wait until five minutes before hand, _then_ tell me?" Arian sighed heavily. 

He shrugged. "What's the fuss about? You've got a whole day."

"You really have no idea, do you? After all, it's only the bloody Galbadian ambassador. I'll just throw on any old clothes, shall I?" She walked over to where he slouched and ran a hand through her hair. 

"That probably… wouldn't work." Laguna tilted his head on one side. "It's sort of…"

"Posh?" She finished. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I still have that grey dress." She grinned. "Remember that one? I'll just wear that."

Laguna's eyes widened a little. "Oh, I remember it, alright. But you should find something else."

Arian's gaze noticeably hardened. "Why?" She asked in a dangerous tone. She objected to being told "no", especially by Laguna because she knew that in the end, she would have to give in. Laguna knew that too, which only made it worse. 

"It's sort of… short and stuff…" His voice tailed off lamely. 

She smiled sweetly. "You liked it well enough before. What's wrong with it now?"

"That's sort of the problem…" He neglected to tell her the rest of the reason. Lots of other people would see her in that dress and that wasn't something he could deal with. Although he wasn't possessive by nature, it still wasn't something his ego could accept.

"Couldn't you find an evening dress or something?" He tried, and Arian sighed. 

"Yeah. Alright." She shot him a fierce look. "But I give in to you too easily. One day, I'll – "

Laguna grinned. "You'll what?"

Arian's glare melted and she sighed again. "Don't know." She said ruefully, watching him flop into a chair. "Anything else about this evening you'd like to tell me? I don't want any nasty surprises."

"Squall and Rinoa'll be there. I don't know if they're planning on bringing an entourage with them or not. There'll be a load of Galbadians there too. You know, important dignitaries who think they're a lot more important than they are."

"Sounds like a bundle of fun." She muttered under her breath. "What about details? I need details, Laguna. What time is it and is there a colour scheme and where is it?"

He snickered at her. "Colours? Nothing's set about that. You could look like you've collided with a rainbow for all I care. It's about seven o'clock, and you don't need to go anywhere, cause it's right here. I'm sort of surprised you didn't notice."

"Yeah, well, some of us have more important things to do than have dolls tea-parties with Galbadians." She wrinkled her nose up.

"How is it you don't like Galbadians? _You're_ a Galbadian." He paused. "_I'm_ a Galbadian, come to think of it." 

"If you ask questions about my whims, you'll get answers. Long, complicated answers, and you hate that, so I'm not going to bother." She leaned down, kissing his cheek. "And I don't hate _all_ Galbadians. Just the politicians. They think they know everything, and they're far too serious." She grinned suddenly, an idea occurring. Laguna had won that last argument far too easily. Just because she was prepared to do pretty much anything to make him happy, didn't mean he should take advantage of that. It was something that irked Arian enormously. She consoled herself with the knowledge that she had her own ways to get back at him. In fact, that was mostly what they spent their time doing. Finding ways and means of irritating each other. It was a game, and they both had their own ways of scoring points. 

Laguna looked apprehensively at the grin. It meant _something_. Probably that she was planning something, but he couldn't figure out what. "What are you thinking?" He asked, wondering if he really wanted to hear the answer.

She neglected to answer, still smiling, and leaned forwards to kiss him again. "Don't look so very worried. I'm only smiling. Am I not allowed to smile?"

Laguna decided to let that pass and made no comment when she started to try and arrange his hair. She pulled the strands back from his face and looked exasperated when they instantly fell back to their previous position.

"I was thinking…" He began after a while.

"Ooh!" she gasped in mock amazement, then tilted her head sympathetically. "Did it hurt?"

Laguna muttered something incomprehensible and gave her a sour look, his train of thought completely derailed. Arian just grinned gleefully and kissed his forehead.

"You have a really unique line going here, Arian. Do you always insult people you're trying to seduce?"

She actually managed to look mildly outraged. "Seduce? Where did you get an idea like that?" She kept her face completely straight and moved to rest her knee against the edge of the chair to support her weight. 

Laguna lifted his hands to her waist, looking carefully at her. "Are you making an offer here, or not?" He sounded wholly amused more than anything else.

Appearing to think on that for a long time, Arian blinked, working out how she could end this particular game and win. Finally, she gave an answer, her expression serious. "What do you think?" In spite of her expression, her tone was no less amused than his and impish mirth danced in her blue eyes.

"I think it is." He decided, suddenly pulling her closer and laughing when she lost her balance and fell against him. Arian lifted her head from his chest, laughing on the inside for an entirely different reason. She was just biding her time. She remained silent, with that same amused, I-know-something-you-don't look on her face. _Whaddya know? He took the bait… _She snickered mentally. _Serves him right for telling me what I can and can't do! Just because I _do_ do what he asks, doesn't mean he should ask._

She waited silently, amenable to his kisses until he moved his hands to the neck of her shirt. Grinning, she leaned forwards and whispered in his ear. "Laguna?"

"Hmm?"

She paused, not answering until he reached the third button. "It wasn't." She said simply, standing and walking away in a single fluid movement. She repaired the damage to her appearance and turned back to him, smiling brightly. "I don't have time to stay here with you. I have a dress to buy. Remember?" Seeing his dismayed expression and consternation in his face, she was satisfied and walked quickly out the door, laughing quietly to herself, before he could find his voice again.

***************

It was hours later when Laguna asked Kiros if he'd seen Arian around. Kiros had grinned, for some unknown reason, and informed his friend that she'd returned a short while ago. Kiros' whole attitude unnerved Laguna and he was feeling very apprehensive as he wandered the corridors, looking for Arian. 

He didn't have to look for very long. The sound of uncontrollable laughter drifted out of one room and Laguna immediately walked in, wondering what could possibly be so funny.

Arian was sat in front of a screen, watching an old film. He recognised it immediately and groaned. 

Realising that Laguna was present, the woman turned, her laughter reduced to sniggering. 

"Where did you find that?" Laguna asked in a despairing tone.

"Kiros found it for me. He thought I might appreciate it." The end of the sentence dissolved into giggles as she turned back to the screen.

__

That explains why Kiros was being so… weird earlier. Why am I not surprised that he'd do this? Why didn't I outlaw all copies of this tape?

"Even _I_ can act better than that! What were you thinking, Laguna?" 

"Can we turn this off?" He suggested in a pained tone. "Please?"

"No. I wanna see the rest of it!" Arian sniggered again and Laguna changed the subject.

"Did you find something to wear?"

She nodded her head, without turning her attention from the screen.

"Can I see?" He tried to distract her, but she shook her head. "Fine. I'll go look in your wardrobe." 

Finally turning back to him, she grinned and took a key from her pocket. "I'd like to see you try." 

Laguna shrugged, not actually _that_ bothered, just wanting to drag her away from the film. "Locked. That's a strange sort of thing to do." He commented.

Arian grinned gleefully again. "Well, it's just a precaution. I don't want to walk in one day and see you wearing something you shouldn't." 

Laguna looked mildly affronted at her comment and passed a weary hand over his eyes. "What did I do that made you like this today? You've really got it in for me, haven't you?"

The blonde woman shook her head and smiled fondly. "No. Just point scoring. That's all."

He let that pass, understanding what she meant. "Why do I put up with you?"

"The question should be why do _I_ put up with _you_?" Arian finished, concluding that she had probably won another round. 

***************

Once again, Laguna found himself slouching against a wall, this time in the corridor. He turned and looked at his friends, stood next to him.

"I've just realised I spend a lot of time leaning against walls." He commented thoughtfully. "Funny, you'd think I'd find somewhere to sit down or something."

Kiros gave him a long steady look. "Where did that one come from?"

Laguna just shrugged. He was bored of waiting for Arian and began to fidget. Ward noted that and grinned at Kiros. 

"Yeah, she's only been in there about two hours. It's _far_ too soon to expect her to be ready." The dark man drawled. He still found it amusing that Laguna had been shut out of his own room while Arian got ready. She had decided he would be in the way and had thrown him out, despite the fact that her own room was just down the corridor and she could easily use that.

"She bullies you sometimes." Kiros shook his head, amused. "And you let her."

"'S not bullying. It's… point scoring." Laguna used Arian's own term for it, and Kiros gave him an odd look. "Ah, don't worry about it. It's complicated."

"…" Ward nudged Kiros and nodded his head towards Laguna. _Can't be that complicated if they understand it._ Kiros laughed loudly, stopping abruptly as the door opened. 

Arian smirked happily at the silence and twirled girlishly. "Do you think it'll do?" 

Kiros chuckled and looked at his friend. "Stop catching flies, Laguna. Arian, I think you'll do just fine. She washes up pretty nice, doesn't she Ward?" He grinned and Arian whapped his shoulder for that comment.

Laguna blinked, a measure dazedly. This wasn't _exactly_ what he'd had in mind. It would almost had been better if he'd just agreed when she'd suggested that grey dress of hers. This would certainly turn a few eyes in her direction.

It was a sleeveless, shoulderless dress of bright emerald satin that clung tightly to her figure. Just past her hips, it dropped out into loose folds that reached to her ankles. 

Arian watched him watching her, waiting patiently. She knew full well that although it was longer than her grey dress, it wasn't actually that much better. Her gold hair had been curled into flowing ringlets that had been pulled around over one shoulder and she had somehow contrived to weave emerald ribbons elaborately into the mass. It wasn't so much a hairstyle as a work of art. 

She fidgeted with the elbow length black lace gloves that stretched up her arms, nervous at the silence. There was a reason for those. The scar on her arm was still a livid purple and would take a long time to fade to an unnoticeable white. She didn't mind it that much, but she would rather not have it there, reminding her with its presence, tonight.

Laguna tilted his head, then leaned forwards to lift the pendant from her neck. 

"Recognise it? You should." She commented. Laguna let the green gem drop and nodded, smiling. "Well?" She asked expectantly, tired of the scrutiny.

"Yeah. You'll do." He grinned.

"I'll _do_?" She squeaked incredulously. "I've spent two hours making myself _adorable_ and all I get is "You'll _do_"? Ohhh, you are just… beyond belief!" She huffed, pouting and folding her arms. "It's not like you're dressed to the nines." She waved vaguely at the black trousers and white dress shirt that was Laguna's concession to formality. "Compliment me, Laguna, _compliment._"

He shrugged. "You know exactly how you look. What do you need me to tell you for?"

Kiros sighed heavily as Arian glowered at Laguna, not even deeming that question worth an answer. "Look, he'll never tell you what you want to hear. Especially not while we're here. Just… let it go, Arian."

The woman gave Laguna a last murderous glance, then turned, pulling Ward down to her level and kissing his cheek. She turned to Kiros, pointedly leaving Laguna out, whispering to the dark man, away from Laguna's sight. 

"Do me a favour?" She hissed. "It's not much… Just sort of… defer to me a bit, yeah? I _want_ a reaction out of him, Kiros. Help me out a little?"

He nodded, thoroughly amused, and offered his arm to her. She grinned and winked quickly at him, still completely ignoring the incredulous Laguna. Ward walked a short way ahead and Arian even managed to keep a completely straight face as she walked down the corridor with Kiros. 

"Hey, hang on a minute!" She heard Laguna protest, and grinned to herself. "Arian! Are you trying to be funny again?" Realising that the woman had no intention of listening to him, he addressed his friend instead. "Kiros, will you wait for me?" He ran after them a short way, then stopped, suddenly angry at them for ignoring him, and feeling irrationally put out with Kiros.

"Kiros!" The situation was suddenly very unfunny. "She's _mine_!" He clapped his hand over his mouth instantly. He hadn't meant to voice that thought but it had inadvertently forced its way out. "Oops..." He said quietly, knowing how Arian reacted to any behaviour she deemed even _slightly_ possessive. 

She had stopped walking the instant he'd said it, smiling secretively to herself. 

"That what you wanted?" Kiros whispered. 

Nodding, she made a small gesture for him to carry on. "We'll be along in a moment. But I think we need to have a talk first."

Kiros sniggered. "I take it this isn't going to be a talk he'll enjoy."

Arian merely gave a facial shrug, not giving anything away, and waited until Kiros had reached the far end of the corridor before she turned back to Laguna, who was trying desperately to make the floor swallow him up.

"I didn't mean it!" He said immediately. "I just snapped. I really didn't mean to say it. I didn't even know I was _thinking_ it!"

"Laguna, shut up for a moment. You can't lie. You've never been able to lie, so you'd think you would've given up trying by now." She rolled her eyes, unintentionally giving Laguna an opening to try and protest innocence again.

"I –"

"I want to hear you say it. The truth, Laguna. Did you mean it?" Her eyes held his and he didn't dare look away. 

"…Yes." He conceded quietly, eventually. Arian could be scary when she put her mind to it and for some reason, when she was so dressed up she looked a little more intimidating than normal. He wasn't scared of _her_;that would be silly, but he was scared of her reaction. Her blue eyes remained cloudy and incomprehensible, not giving away a hint of what she was thinking. 

Finally, she simply smiled and wrapped her arms about his neck. "That's all right then." 

Laguna blinked. This wasn't at all what he had expected. Over and over, she had emphasised that she was her own person, that she didn't belong to him, or anyone else. It seemed to be something she was quite sensitive about. "But you… I thought you hated stuff like that?"

"Not always. Sometimes a little possessiveness shows me I'm still wanted. But not always." She warned quickly.

"Then how am I supposed to know…?"

"You don't." She drew back and grinned wickedly. "You have to guess. It's another one of my wonderful little mysteries that I know you just _adore_. And I'll be most put out with you if you ever get it wrong."

"What kind of rules are you playing to? That's not very fair, Arian." Laguna protested.

"I wasn't aware that there _were _any rules, but feel free to draw up a list anytime. Then there will be some that I can break." She smiled, satisfied, then paused and leaned her head on one side. "You wanna tell me that I look nice now?"

"You're gonna have lecherous old politicians falling over themselves to talk to you."

Arian frowned. "I'll take that as a compliment," She began dubiously. "But you'll have to do better. You're behaving more like Squall than yourself right now. Lighten up again. And find a _nice_ compliment somewhere in that empty head of yours." She smiled to take the sting from the criticism. 

Laguna looked helplessly at her for a moment, not able to think of anything for a while, then an idea presented itself. He hesitated over it, grinning wickedly, his green eyes outrageously impish. 

"What? What's that look for?" She asked suspiciously.

Unable to wipe the grin from his face, he put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down towards her ear. "You don't even look this good in fantasies." He smirked and leaned back quickly to catch her response. He wouldn't normally say something like that, but she _had_ been 'point scoring', as she called it, all day and he wanted to even things up a bit. 

Arian just gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out. She blushed deep red, the colour running down her neck and across her collarbone, and her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them. 

"Quit that." He laughed. "You look like a goldfish. A very _green_ goldfish, but still a goldfish." 

She merely gaped at him some more, and he slung an arm around her, leading her down the corridor. "You… I…" She spluttered, not sure whether she was pleased or outraged.

"Deep breaths." He advised, chuckling to himself. It was nice to see that she could lose her composure too. He liked reminding her that she was human, with all the flaws that went with it. He didn't mind if she acted superior and pretended that she was always in complete control of herself, but sometimes it was gratifying to make her react to something. In the end, everything worked both ways and for every mischief she instigated, he could find something that worked just as well on her. And there was definitely something _very_ satisfying about making Arian stutter and blush like that.

Finally regaining some semblance of self-possession, the blond woman managed to reclaim the power of coherent speech. "Would you like to explain that remark?" She said in a deceptively pleasant tone of voice.

"No, I don't think so." Laguna answered thoughtfully. "And you can't moan at me." He added gleefully. "It _was_ a compliment, wasn't it?"

***************

"This is dull." Arian stated flatly, staring blankly at the plate in front of her.

Laguna glanced over from where he sat beside her. "I don't think a street carnival would exactly be appreciated." He laughed quietly and jerked his heads towards the stuffy looking Galbadians who sat on a nearby table. 

Technically, they should all have been on the same table, but the Galbadians had been funny about that. They didn't want to eat with people they identified as being foreign, so another table had been set up for them. Laguna looked around at Ward, Kiros and Arian and sighed to himself. _We're all Galbadian too, you nitwits. Although right now, I'd rather that I wasn't._

He looked around the room and Rinoa caught his eye and grinned back. Squall and those SeeDs he had brought with him had to sit at another table. There wasn't enough room at this one for them all. 

Rinoa was standing and laid a hand over her rounded stomach, holding the other hand in the air, her fingers outspread. Five months to go, her smile said as she waved that outspread hand at him, five more months. Laguna laughed openly as the small orchestra started to play The Waltz of the Moon and Rinoa dragged Squall out onto the dance floor in what had become a tradition for them. The dark haired girl wasn't about to let impending motherhood ruin her fun.

Noting that most people had left their chairs and were now either dancing, or milling around talking, Laguna tapped Arian's shoulder. "C'mon. I suppose we should talk to them. Even if they don't seem to like us all that much."

She rolled her eyes, but stood, walking with him towards a group of very formal looking officials. "You know what I think is funny?" She said in a low voice, careful not to let anyone else hear. "I think it's funny that it's taken them this long to send an Ambassador."

"It took them nearly a year just to elect another president. I think they got tied up in their beloved paperwork." Laguna sniggered. "If they're so enamoured with paperwork, they can stop by and do mine!" 

"Ooh. Long word. Have we been taking lessons to expand our vocabulary?" Arian said in a vapid voice, her face filled an impressed look that was mostly feigned.

"You know, whenever I'm feeling even slightly confident, I always have the comfort of knowing you'll drag me straight back to the ground again." He said sarcastically. 

"You'd better believe it." She snickered back, stopping as they reached the politicians. Arian looked carefully around the small group. They were an assortment of ages, but there was a stodgy, conservative look that each of them possessed. She was bored again just looking at them, but Esthar and Galbadia had to learn to play nicely together or Bad Things would happen to everyone. 

Politely, not interested but not wanting to leave the woman out of the conversation, one of the men addressed her. "You're obviously a Galbadian." He observed in a courteous tone. "What do you think of living in Esthar? How does it compare to your home country, Lady-?" He waited for a name.

Arian gave the man a mild version of her glare. "Arian. I'm not a Lady and you'd insult me if you called me one." The response surprised the group and Laguna snickered quietly. He remembered the officials in Deling City, with their big houses and their pretty little wives that clung to their arms, no more than ornaments. They were there to look nice and flatter their husband's egos, but no form of intelligent thought was expected. They had looked at Arian and not seen past the dress, thinking her the same as the ladies of Deling City. 

"And I think that living in Esthar is very nice, actually. I think you might even have a problem in terms of population soon." She put on her serious face and winked at Laguna, loving the effect she was having. "Your social structure is very male orientated in Galbadia. I think you could find yourselves short of a female population when they start to realise how different things are over here. I don't think there would be very many happy men folk around, if that happened. Your wives might even leave you." She stopped the gleeful grin just before it reached her face but she couldn't keep its sound out of her voice. 

After a stunned silence, Laguna smiled. "You'll get used to her. I'm afraid she's always like that." He coughed and changed the subject quickly. 

More or less ignoring the talk between Laguna and one of the other men, Arian paid attention to the things that _weren't_ being said. Laguna wasn't talking about anything earthshaking, just the weather or some other social nicety that was guaranteed to put everyone to sleep. On the other hand, the eyes of the other men in the group told her far more interesting stories. 

When they eventually walked away, she grinned gleefully at him. "They're actually afraid of you!" She crowed as loudly as she dared. "Of _you!_ Isn't that amusing? They want you to sign something so that you won't suddenly declare war on them, and they're so desperate for that piece of paper they'll do _anything_!"

Laguna sniggered quietly. "Why don't I have a little talk with Kiros about how we can take advantage of this?"

"Trade opportunities, Laguna. Get some clauses in there to protect the finances of this place, and anything else you can think of! They _can't_ turn it down! They're too afraid of another war and they've overstepped so many marks with the whole messy sorceress business that they can't afford to protest." She nodded sensibly. "Yes, this'll be good. Go tell Kiros about it." She said, shoving him in the direction of his friend.

Seeing Rinoa resting by a table, Arian walked over to her. Squall was nowhere to be seen, which was unusual. He could normally be found hovering over Rinoa, always watching for the slightest hint that someone might hurt her. The girl _was_ still a sorceress, after all.

"How are things?" Arian asked amiably. 

The dark girl looked up, the highlights in her hair catching the light. "I didn't notice you for a moment. I was daydreaming." She smiled, leaning back and resting her hands on her stomach. Her dress was almost exactly the same as her favourite one she'd worn when she met Squall, with a few dramatic alterations at the waistline.

"I love dancing." She said softly. "I've always danced, for as long as I can remember. And now I can't stay up there for long." She nodded towards the dance floor. "But it's nice just to watch the others. Just watching them twirl around…"

"I used to dance…" Arian mused, almost too quiet to be heard. "A long time ago, I used to dance. Just a little, nothing complicated like you, just simple steps. I'd forgotten about it."

"Why don't you?" Rinoa suggested. "You never really forget how to. You'd be fine."

Arian smiled and glanced to where Laguna was talking animatedly to Kiros. "He wouldn't."

The girl sniggered. "Squall didn't want to. But I didn't really give him a choice."

"No. I won't do that to him. I'd never hear the end of it if I did." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "But I can still dance. I'm sure I can find someone who'll oblige." 

"Will he mind?" Rinoa grinned wickedly.

"Nah, I doubt it. But if he does, he'll just have to dance with me himself, won't he?"

*****

Laguna talked his way through various groups of politicians. It wasn't terribly interesting, but it had to be done. He couldn't foist this one off on Kiros and Ward, to Kiros' delight. They discussed mundane things, nothing of importance just small talk, but he wished Arian was around to spice it up and make it fun. 

He'd catch a glimpse of her, every so often, out of the corner of his eye. Just a hint of green across the room. He certainly heard her laughing on more than one occasion. 

Finally getting a chance to stop, he sat at one of the deserted tables and searched her out. She was dancing with one of the Galbadians, talking amiably as her feet moved across the floor in light steps.

Laguna laughed and shook his head. Arian looked so bright. It wasn't just the dress and the way the satin made the light shine off the curves in her figure. It went beyond that. She actually glowed, out there in the limelight, enjoying every minute of attention that was paid to her. It was a far cry from the bitter girl who had stood at the street edge, her soul in tatters.

One of the politicians Laguna didn't recognise had walked up to him, following his gaze. "She's really something else." He commented. "Where did you find her?"

"You wouldn't believe me. You just wouldn't believe me." 

The man chuckled. "She has a hell of a temper, though. I saw someone offend her just now and I thought she was going to eat him!"

"Oh yeah. That sounds about right. Fire and brimstone in her. Forget all that sugar and spice and all things nice nonsense." Laguna turned his gaze back to Arian. She fascinated the visitors, once they had gotten over the initial shock. They talked to her, rapt, laughing at her snide comments. 

She had stopped dancing and made her way over, noticing that he'd been watching. 

"Enjoying yourself?" He grinned.

She sniggered. "They don't know what to make of me. It's funny!" Her cheeks were a little more flushed than usual and she had a permanent smile fixed on her face, but Laguna didn't pay it any attention. 

He stood and looked ruefully at her. "I guess I should go talk to some more of them. I don't want to offend anyone."

She caught his arm. "Don't _I_ get to talk to you? Just for a bit?" She tried to look hurt, but the giggling marred the effect. 

"Whaddya wanna talk about?" Laguna sighed. "Is this going to be one of those conversations where you make fun of me, because if it is I'll leave right now."

"Me? Little me? Make fun of you? Where did you get an idea like that from?" She said in gleeful mischief, twisting her arms round his neck. "I'm mortally offended by that. I mean, just fancy you thinking that I'd make fun of you. Didn't you know that I'm absolutely angelic and I'd never even _think_ of doing such a thing?"

"Angelic?" Laguna said flatly, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yep." Arian nodded happily. 

"This _is_ one of those conversations, isn't it?"

The woman's eyes widened. "Everybody give this guy a round of applause! Well done!"

Laguna wisely decided to change the subject, before Arian came up with another comment. Her hands toyed absently with his hair, trying to make some sort of order out of it.

"Why do you keep doing that?" He asked.

"I don't know. I just do, I guess." She shrugged. 

He frowned a little as the lace of her gloves touched his face. "If you gonna keep doing that, can you at least lose the gloves? They feel funny." 

She smirked at him. "Ahhh." She cooed unsympathetically, unable to voice a further answer before he pulled back the edge of the lace, stopping suddenly and looking apologetically up at her as he reached the livid purple mark.

"Sorry." He smiled ruefully. "I guess I kinda forgot about that."

Arian just shrugged, pulling her glove back up her arm. "Good."

"What?" Laguna asked, baffled. 

"Don't remember it. Forget it, because it's unimportant and if you give it a place in your head, it becomes important and it shouldn't be. It's nothing and he didn't win, I did. I won't let him continue to have an effect, so forget it. It doesn't matter." She took a deep breath. "Now, I have all these nice people who want to dance with me and you have all those boring people who want to talk to you, so I'll see you later, hmm?" She winked and waved as she walked away again.

***************

She occasionally wandered back to him, just to see what was going on. It was on one of those occasions that he started to notice something was different. He was talking to Kiros when Arian seated herself next to him and wrapped her hands around his arm. 

Laguna turned and shot her an odd look, but Arian had just smiled amiably. "Carry on. Don't mind me."

He waited for the usual sarcastic comment, but none came so he turned back to Kiros. In fact, all through the conversation if Arian interrupted at all, she only said civil things. Laguna was beginning to get unnerved.

"Did I ever tell you that you have nice arms, love?"

Laguna's head snapped round to look at her. Now he was _scared_. Compliments were not Arian's style, and he had never once heard an endearment from her. Insults, yes, those were commonplace, but endearments… Something was very wrong.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with the real Arian?" He asked instantly.

Kiros laughed loudly and Arian looked at him, baffled. "What? What did I say? Can't I be nice once in a while without having you all laugh at me? Is it really that strange?"

Laguna gave her a very long look, noticing again the pinkish flush to her cheeks and her inexplicably cheerful air. "You've been drinking." He accused. 

"And? What's the problem with that?" 

He shook his head, trying to get used to the situation. Mellow Arian was not something he was equipped to deal with. It was _strange_. "No problem with that at all. It's just… weird."

"Don't drink too much." Kiros warned quickly as she started to wander away again. "Don't do anything to embarrass yourself, or us."

Arian shrugged it off. "You worry too much. Laguna isn't worried, are you, dear?"

"Only because he's still trying to get over the shock of you actually being nice. Once he stops being worried about that, _then_ he'll be worried about you drinking large quantities of alcohol." Kiros muttered.

***************

"Selphie." Squall growled. "Put the camera away. This isn't funny anymore."

The girl merely giggled and continued to film Squall on her camcorder, she had been trying to get him to say something inspiring but hadn't had much luck so far. That wasn't going to stop her from persisting. 

"Leave her, Squall. It doesn't matter. Selphie's just having some fun." Rinoa tried to get the SeeD commander to calm down.

For the millionth time that evening Squall wondered _why_ he had bought Selphie and Zell with him. He would much rather have bought Quistis or someone else who acted responsibly, instead of these two clowns, but Quistis had been busy and these two had been very persistent. 

"C'mon Squall!" The small girl entreated from behind the camera. "Say something!"

"Put it away, Selphie. I told you not to bring it."

"No, silly! Say something else!"

Zell ran up and waved into the camera lens. "Stop being so boring, Squall, and talk to the camera."

The boy rolled his eyes. _Why me? I'm the SeeD commander. They bullied me into becoming the Commander, and they made a big fuss over it at the time, but will they take orders from me? Nooo. They just carry on and do whatever they feel like, occasionally listening to me if the situation is important._

"Squall? Are you talking to yourself again?" Rinoa nudged him, suspiciously. "Say something for Selphie. It'll make her really happy. Go on."

"Selphie, this is a considerably important event. I suppose that sort of justifies you filming it. But try not to upset anyone with it. Me included. Okay?"

Selphie jumped into the air, squealing happily. It wasn't _quite_ the speech she had hoped for from her brave leader, but it would have to do. 

"The only way this could get worse now is if Arian decides to come and make my life a misery." Squall muttered under his breath. 

"Hey Squall."

"Next best thing…" He sighed and turned around to face Laguna. "What did you want, Laguna? You haven't managed to wreck civilisation as we know it, have you?"

A confused expression crossed Laguna's face and he shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Actually, I think it's going well. I was just wondering if you'd seen Arian around. I haven't seen her for an hour or so."

"You've lost her? Can I celebrate?" Squall earned a whap on the shoulder from Rinoa at that remark.

"Y'know, you're really getting the hang of this sense of humour thing." Laguna chuckled.

"Who said I was joking?" He responded, his face deadly serious.

Ignoring Squall completely, Laguna carried on. "I haven't lost her. She's round here someplace, but I don't know where."

Having handed the video camera to Zell, Selphie bounced up to join in the conversation. "What's up?" She chirruped. 

"I'm just looking for Arian. You haven't seen her, have you?" 

Selphie shook her head, giggling. "No. We bought the camcorder with us and I've been taping loads of stuff, but I haven't seen her yet. I'm going to put it all up on my webpage."

Rinoa grinned and nudged Squall. "You wanna tell Laguna what else is on your page, Selph?"

The small girl was completely silent for a moment, glaring furiously at her friend before protesting that she had to get the camera back from Zell before he did something dumb and broke it.

"What was that about?" Squall asked, just as confused as Laguna. 

Rinoa looked at the two of them carefully, then saw something behind them that saved her from answering. "Isn't that Arian back there?"

Laguna turned quickly, surprised. "Yeah. Yeah, I think it is. Thanks."

Sighing, Squall turned back towards his so-called friends who were now arguing over whose turn it was with the camera now. Zell won eventually and started to harass Squall with the device again. 

"C'mon man! Just smile for the camera! Just once!"

__

The things I do…Squall thought in despair.

***************

Making his way to the far end of the dance floor, Laguna found Arian stood slumped against the wall, staring pensively at the empty glass in her hand.

"I was wondering where you'd got to." He commented when he reached her.

"Which one's the Ambassador?" She asked suddenly. "I just realised I didn't know."

Laguna looked around and eventually pointed out an old man who sat at a table. "That's him. Apparently, he's been in this sort of thing for a long time so he knows what he's doing. Plus, he's not as excitable as some of the younger ones so he isn't going to declare war every time he thinks he's been insulted."

"Excitable? He's practically dead." Arian said dryly, sighing heavily after that, staring into space.

"What is it?"

She didn't look up. "Nothing. It really doesn't matter." The initial cheerful effect of the alcohol had begun to give way to the next stage and Arian didn't really feel like company. That's why she was slouched against the wall, away from everyone. 

"Squall's over there. I think he's less than happy about Selphie and her video camera." Laguna laughed in an attempt to cheer her up. 

"I'm thinking too much." She began, having completely ignored what he said. "I don't like it. Make it stop." 

He blinked at her. If Arian wanted to unnerve him today, she was doing well. He was at a loss, not really sure what to do.

Then he didn't have to think about that anymore. Arian had thrown herself at him, nearly knocking him off balance. It took him a few moments to realise she was crying very quietly. 

"Nobody likes me!" She lamented softly into his shoulder. 

Laguna rolled his eyes. _She's drunk too much. Great. This is just what we need._ "Now that's not true at all. Ward and Kiros like you. And Rinoa and all that lot. And Squall… sort of likes you. And I _definitely_ like you, so stop that." 

"Nobody loves me!" She wailed this time, and Laguna tried to pry her head up away from his shoulder but she appeared to have glued her forehead firmly to it.

"This is getting silly. You know that's not true either." He paused and looked around. "Ok, people are starting to stare now. You wanna stop this yet?"

She shook her head miserably. "I can't stop it. I feel too depressed." She waved her hands around some, nearly braining Laguna with the empty glass. He prudently removed it from her grasp and set it on a tray the next time a waitress walked past, picking up a full glass instead.

"You've just had a bit too much to drink. Drink this and you'll feel a lot better, believe me."

Arian frowned and finally lifted her head. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Just trust me on this one." He handed her the new glass and winced as she downed it. "Feeling better yet?" He asked, wiping the last traces of tears away.

"No." She said sullenly and Laguna could see from her expression she was trying to think of something else to cry about. What he really needed was something to take her mind of it, just long enough to give that extra glass a chance to kick in. He looked speculatively at the dance floor. "You wanna dance? Will that make you happy?"

"Are you serious?" She asked incredulously. 

"Yes or no."

"You can't!" Arian paused. "Can you?"

"As long as you don't get too complicated, I'm sure I can keep up with you. So, yes or no?" Laguna tilted his head to one side, waiting for an answer. Arian just stared blankly at him. In the end, he sighed and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her out towards the other dancers.

****************

Rinoa giggled and pointed at the dance floor, where Arian was being dragged against her will. "Oh, Squall! Look." She feigned thoughtfulness. "Hmm, now… what does _this_ remind me of?"

The SeeD Commander shot her a sour look. "I'm sure if you think hard enough, it'll spring to mind eventually." He commented blandly. "And I think that Arian's a lot kinder than you were. At least she's keeping everything simple. You, on the other hand, launched yourself into an elaborate waltz, despite the fact that I'd told you I couldn't dance." He smiled at her, remembering.

"You managed." Rinoa shrugged. "And you learned it eventually, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I guess I did." He grinned affectionately at her.

****************

Arian had cheered up again, but now every tiny movement of the dance was making her head spin. "Things are moving more than they should be." She murmured in a singsong voice.

"That's what happens when you throw back wine the way you've been doing." Laguna snickered back in the same tone. "You're drunk." 

"I'm _not_." Arian answered defensively. "I'm just… a bit squiffy."

She was really feeling dizzy now, her head was light and she wasn't sure if she liked the feeling or not. She lay her head on Laguna's shoulder and shut her eyes tight to block out the spinning room. 

"This is nice." She commented after a while. "I could get used to this."

He just laughed at her, interrupted by a surprisingly bold Galbadian who asked if he'd mind if he cut in. Laguna looked astonished and was about to laugh in his face but Arian interrupted him.

"_I_ mind." She said, a little more fiercely than she'd meant to. She clung to Laguna, doing a good impersonation of a limpet on a rock, making it quite clear that no one was going anywhere.

"You know what you said before, in the corridor?" She looked up a moment later. "Well you're mine too and you couldn't run far enough or fast enough to get away from me." She grinned smugly.

When he just grinned back, she carried on talking. "And do you remember what else you said in the corridor? Would you like to expand on that yet?" She smiled sweetly, fooling no one.

"No. I think I'd rather not." Laguna said quickly.

"Go on. You will eventually. I have my ways and if I want you to tell me something, make no mistake, you _will_."

Laguna appeared to think on that for a moment. "No, really. It's quite alright. I'll keep this one to myself."

Arian didn't look convinced, but let it pass for now. For a long while, neither of them spoke. Arian had burrowed her face back into his neck and was content not to push the subject further, or make any sarcastic comments at Laguna's expense.

When she did speak again she didn't so much as move and Laguna wasn't quite sure he had heard her properly. 

"I think… I want you."

Laguna laughed nervously and she looked at him, blue eyes slightly unfocused. _Ok, this isn't good. She's a bit further gone than I thought. She _must_ be to say something like that. That isn't one of her phrases. In fact, she goes out of her way _not_ to admit _any_ weakness, so this is very wrong. And I really need to do something about it soon before…_ He stopped that line of thought and winced. 

"Ok, Arian. Time to get you another drink." He pushed her away from the dance floor and towards one of the tables.

***************

Arian returned to where Laguna sat with a new glass in her hand and a thoughtful expression on her face. "Laguna?"

"Yeah?"

"I found this waitress who says she knows over twenty different cocktails… And I think that maybe I ought to make sure that she does. Of course, the only way to do that is to drink them all."

"Couldn't you just ask her to –"

"No." Arian said flatly. "Anyway," She changed her expression to a winsome smile. "I was thinking that I can't possibly get through them all on my own, so I've decided to enlist some help."

Laguna nodded. That seemed to be reasonable enough. "Who's helping you?" He caught the long speculative look he was receiving and groaned. "_Me_? Why me?"

"Because. Come on! It'll be fun!" She pulled at his arm and they went in search of the waitress in question with Laguna muttering, "If you can't beat 'em… join 'em."

***************

Kiros had been talking to Squall for a while, but paused now, just resting and watching everyone else with a tranquil expression on his face. Everything seemed to be going just fine. He was just about to go and chat to Ward for a bit, when he heard a sound behind him. "Oh no… I really hope that's not what I think it is…" He had that sinking feeling in his stomach though, that told him this was _exactly_ what he thought it was. It sounded like laughter, but not normal laughter. This had a slightly insane, uncontrollable ring to it.

The dark man turned around, dreading what he would find. He rolled his eyes. He had been right. His brown eyes had landed on Laguna. Either something was incredibly funny or… Kiros didn't even want to _think_ about the other possibility.

The giggling President was sat at one of the vacant tables, his hysterical lover sat in his arms, laughing so badly that she was having trouble breathing. Thankfully, the pair were some distance from the Ambassador and most of the Galbadians.

"What have you two been drinking?" He asked flatly, looking at the glasses that had been set on the table. 

Arian sniggered. "Blue Lagoons!" That remark set her off again and she threw her head back in peals of laughter. Apparently, she found that quite funny.

"And what does that have in it?"

"Vodka and C…" Laguna paused. "Something unpronounceable beginning with c?"

Kiros gave a long sigh, then noticed that Laguna had his foot on the edge of the table and the chair was tilted back, just a little. He just _knew_ what was going to happen. He could see it, but he couldn't open his mouth in time. The chair flew backwards and hit the floor, Arian squealing as she fell and holding tight to Laguna, not realising that this didn't actually do any good because he was falling too. Then they started to laugh again.

He looked down at the giggling heap on the floor and decided that it was probably time to enlist some help. 

He found Squall not far away, still trying to evade Selphie, Zell and the video camera. "Squall, I could really use some help. I don't suppose you'd give me a hand?" 

The boy looked surprised, but shrugged and nodded, following Kiros back across the room. Laguna and Arian were still sat on the floor and when Squall saw the state they were in, he put his hands on his hips and frowned at them. "I don't believe you sometimes. What's the phrase? Responsible adults." He looked away, disgusted. 

"We have _got_ to get them out of here before someone notices. They aren't going to take us seriously if they see this."

"Won't they miss them? I mean, Laguna is _supposedly,_" Squall paused to shoot his father another disgusted look, "the President. That makes him slightly important and they might notice if he vanishes into thin air."

Kiros shook his head. "It's more or less over now, anyway. All the important stuff won't happen for a few days. This was just a… social thing, I guess. Just to show the Galbadians that the people of Esthar are human too, and they don't have three heads or anything." Kiros was about to continue, but got interrupted. While they had been talking Arian had started to sing, very quietly. It had gotten progressively louder, and now Laguna felt compelled to join in.

Turning his head very slowly, Kiros fixed them both with a glare. "Quiet. Please." Both of them ignored him, carrying on with the song, occasionally punctuated with giggles. It wasn't that either of them had _bad_ voices, but for Kiros the situation just kept getting worse.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?" Squall raised his eyebrows. In spite of his disgust, he was actually starting to find this funny. 

"The song? Oh, who knows? Probably some soppy old folk song, or something. Does it really matter right now?" Kiros shook his head. "Right. You go and chat with the Ambassador about anything you like. If he asks about Laguna and Arian, just tell him… Tell him that Arian got a headache, so they've left. Or something."

"Headache?" Squall sniggered. "She's going to have a really _bad_ headache soon. They both are." That thought really cheered Squall up, and Kiros was looking happier at the notion too.

"Won't they just?" He grinned back. "You might want to get Rinoa to talk to them as well. She's a bit better at socialising than you. I'll go and put the children to bed." 

Squall gave the pair on the floor one last despairing look before he went to find Rinoa. Kiros sighed and hauled Laguna to his feet. "Come on. For crying out loud, stop that racket and start walking." He pulled Arian up in a similar fashion and pushed them both hurriedly to the doorway. He told them to wait while he turned and shut the door. When he turned back, Laguna was laughing again. 

"She's asleep." He told his friend in glee, finding everything extremely funny. 

Arian was leaning against his shoulder and Laguna appeared to be right. She was fast asleep. "Wake her up, then." Kiros said irritably, watching as Laguna poked her shoulder. It had no affect at all on the sleeping woman and he tried again, but this time he nearly knocked her off balance and he decided to stop before she fell over.

"She won't wake up." He giggled.

"Well, isn't this just wonderful? Out the way, Laguna, and stop giggling like a schoolgirl. It's beginning to scare me. " Kiros picked her up and nodded towards the stairs. "That way. Damn, she's heavier than she looks."

"I'll carry her." Laguna said defensively, giving his friend a slightly unfocused reproachful look. 

"You can only just carry yourself right now. Stairs, Laguna. Now." Kiros shot back. After a few stairs, he paused. There was a faint sound he couldn't quite place. Then he looked down. 

"She's snoring." He said flatly. It was a very quiet snore, but for some reason it offended Kiros. 

Laguna peered over at her. "She hardly ever does that. It's a pretty snore."

The other man gave his friend a long flat look. "How can _anyone_ have a _pretty_ snore?"

Laguna just shrugged and kept climbing the stairs, somewhat haphazardly. Kiros rolled his eyes. The only thing worse than dealing with a drunken Laguna was dealing with a drunken _infatuated_ Laguna. He wondered idly what he had done recently to upset Fate. 

They managed to make the rest of the way without any further events. Kiros occasionally had to yell at Laguna when he started to walk the wrong way. Kiros didn't think it was possible, but his sense of direction actually got _worse_ when he had been drinking.

Kiros dropped Arian into a chair and rubbed at his arms. It had been quite a long way up here, and Arian hadn't gotten any lighter. She still hadn't stirred and Kiros looked over to his friend, only to see that Laguna had promptly fallen onto the bed and was also fast asleep.

Kiros walked over and flipped his friend onto his back, deciding that although it was very tempting to let him suffocate right now, it probably wouldn't be so funny in the morning. 

"The number of times you've slept in your clothes, too lazy or too tired to do anything else." He smiled. "One more time won't hurt, I guess." He turned back to Arian. He couldn't let her sleep in what she was wearing. She'd end up damaging it. 

"C'mon! Wake up!" He groused at her, shaking her shoulders. Her head flopped back, but she still didn't wake. Kiros sighed and pulled the long gloves from her arms. "Arian! Wake _up_!" 

Finally, the blonde woman stirred and blinked sleepily at him. "Hmmm?"

"Here." Kiros threw her nightshirt over her shoulders and she looked blearily around, realising where she was. 

"How did I get here?" She murmured, struggling into her nightshirt and out of the dress at the same time. 

"Does it matter?" Kiros said bluntly. "Go to sleep. You're useless until you've slept this off."

Arian practically keeled over again right there and Kiros pushed her towards the bed. "Are you my friend?" She asked suddenly as she shut her eyes, laying down and curling her legs up. She didn't bother pulling the covers over herself. It was a warm night and she didn't have the energy or the inclination to move.

Kiros rolled his eyes. "Yes. Of course I'm your friend. Now go to sleep." He walked to the door and chuckled before he pulled it shut. "You two are really gonna feel _this_ in the morning."

***************

Arian had managed to worm her way across to Laguna in her sleep and she lay with most of her upper body on his chest. Still only semi-conscious, she snuggled her face into the white shirt, not really able to remember that much of the previous night. As she drifted further towards consciousness, the loud sound of Laguna's heart started to annoy her. In fact, it wasn't so much irritation as it was _hurt_. The volume was actually painful. 

"Stop it." She muttered to the sound, but winced immediately. The slight movements of speaking had jarred her head and her skull began to ache. It felt like there was a small man sat inside her head with a hammer and he was trying to pound his way out.

Arian groaned and shut her eyes tight again, trying to make it go away. Laguna blinked at her, evidently feeling the same effects. 

"Ow." He said simply. "If Kiros thinks I'm getting up today, he's very wrong."

"Don't talk so much." Arian complained. "It hurts."

As if on cue, there was a loud tap at the door, making them both wince, and Kiros walked in. His expression was blissfully happy and he took what Arian felt was malicious pleasure in drawing back the curtains and letting daylight into the room.

"It's a wonderful day out there." He smiled. "I'm sure you're just dying to get up and see for yourselves."

Ward, hovering in the doorway, laughed silently.

"Kiros, this isn't funny. Can't you leave us to suffer in peace?" Laguna gave his friend a long, pleading look.

"No. I think not." The dark man looked thoughtful, before grinning again. "So, how are my little songbirds feeling this morning? Delicate? Isn't that a _shame_!"

"Die, Kiros. Just go away someplace and die." Arian said flatly, putting her hands to her head to try and stop the splitting headache.

"And to think that last night you wanted me to be your friend…" Kiros sniggered, receiving a death-look for the comment. "Fine. We'll go. But you've got to get up at some point. If you think I'm going to let you off this easily, you're very much mistaken." He sniggered again, pulling the door shut behind him, unnecessarily loudly.

"Twisted sense of humour." Laguna commented as Arian flopped onto her back. 

"Do you have to speak so loud?" She whined. "It _hurts_." She paused for a moment. "Did we really sing?"

"I seem to remember something along those lines." He snickered quietly as he remembered something else. He hadn't had half as much to drink as she had, so he could still remember a considerable portion of the evening. Rolling to his side, he grinned at her, and she screwed her face up. 

"What? Why the grin?"

"Just remembered something, that's all." This was going to be so much fun it distracted him from the pounding in his head. 

"Please share it. I don't remember a damn thing."

He pretended to think for a while, reaching out and holding her shoulder so that she wouldn't go anywhere. "Let's see… Does the phrase "I want you" ring any bells?" He smirked maliciously at her and she instantly tried to roll and bury her face in the pillow, finding that her shoulder was pinned, preventing the movement.

She screwed her face up again and shut her eyes very tight. "I didn't, did I?" She asked in a very small voice.

Laguna nodded, still smirking. He found the whole thing incredibly amusing.

"You're laughing at me." She moaned. "Quit it."

"You know, you have this enormous problem admitting things, and that seems to be one of them."

"Shut up. Just stop that now. Stop trying to be clever. You can't." Arian frowned. "And how come you're better all of a sudden?"

Grinning at her, he shrugged. "It's reminding you how much you humiliated yourself that does it. Does wonders for your health."

She gave him a threatening stare. "Maybe I should try it sometime." 

"Don't worry, Arian." He gave her a blissful smile that actually made her feel worse. "I still love you."

"Die, Laguna. Just crawl away to a hole someplace and die."


End file.
